For many years various types of tethers have been devised, usually for very specific purposes. Many have been directed to baby or child related needs, in particular to assist parents in retrieving pacifiers the baby spits out or to keep the pacifier from dropping completely to the ground.
One tether device is disclosed in Miley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,896 and shows use of a strap with cuff assembly at each end. One cuff would be attached to a wrist of the parent, for example, and the other to the wrist of a child, to restrain the child's movement. Depending on the length of the strap the child can move about on his/he own, but be under the control of the adult at all times.
Another type of child related tether assembly relate to pacifiers and exemplary of theses are Cohen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,504 and Ramos, IV U.S. Pat. No. Des. 423,675. Cohen discloses a device that can be attached on a child's shirt or other article of clothing and uses an o-ring and flexible strap that extends through one end of the device for holding a pacifier. Ramos discloses a zippered pouch and an attached cord that connects between the pouch and a pacifier.
Another group of devices include those designed for holding multiple toys or dolls. These include, Young, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 410,971, Alexander, U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,591, Dickerson, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 426,699 and Caris et al. Published Application No. U.S. 2002/0124297 A1 (now abandoned). Young shows an octopus style animal with lines extending from its legs for holding toys. Alexander discloses use of a sewed strap assembly with elastic loops extending out from each side for holding a number of dolls. Dickerson shows a belt with depending loops, fixed to the belt, on which toys can be attached. Caris et al. also uses a belt, that can be placed around a child's waist or be used to hang the device from a high chair, car seat or walker, and from which depending straps are used to hold toys at their ends by a VELCRO fastener.
Various clamp-on or attachable supports have been designed to hold child related objects including toys and bottles. Bottle holders are shown in MacNeil, U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,797 and Bass, U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,883. Clamp on toy holders are shown in Andreesen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,746 and Grimes, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 351,068.
None of these devices, however, are designed to permit a variety of objects to be held, or available for use by removal from the holder and then restored in the proper holder. None go beyond toys or pacifiers, none relate to a wide variety of items and none are useful in a variety of settings including sport's activities and the workplace uses. Further, none of the known tether systems are useful by those who are somehow disabled, by stroke victims or by others who may be confined, for example, to their home, to wheel chairs or in bed. Such individuals may be living in nursing homes or various other types of long term care facilities or other medical institutions. Known tether systems have not been designed for use by any person who might drop something that would otherwise be irretrievable or very difficult to retrieve.
In the present invention, an improved holder is formed from a first elongated strap that can be of varying lengths depending upon the task at hand and the items to be held. Additionally, when a devise like a snap fit clasp is used along the length of this main strap, as in the present invention, the length can be adjusted, lengthened or shortened, to suit an immediate need, and the item holding portion can be disengaged from the tethered portion for easy use of the items being held. The type and form of the items can range from children's toys to children's equipment, including spill proof cups, or articles of clothing such as gloves and hats. Alternatively, the present invention could be used by climbers, workmen, factory workers, individuals working on assembly lines or any type of activity where a person will be separated from their normal tool supply. In addition, the present invention could also be used by an elderly or disabled person, or a person confined to a bed or wheel chair that might have great difficulty retrieving an items if it were untethered and dropped out of reach.
In another aspect of the present invention, the holder can permanently hold an item, so that it will be used with the tether attached alternating the holder for the item might permit the item to be removed from the separate holder that forms part of the holder device and then, following use, be returned to the holder. For example, where a child's toy is the item in question, it may be dropped frequently during play sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose and the tether permits easy recovery and prevents the toy from hitting the floor prior to retrieval. Alternatively, the device may be used by an individual working on a roof and the item may be a staple gun. Here, the staple gun might remain attached to the holder as it is being used, or it might be removable from its separate holder for use and then replaced following use. As another example, this device may be used by an infant or toddler in their car seat or in a seat on a commercial airliner to prevent items in use from falling beyond the reach of the infant/toddler or parent or from coming in contact with the floor.
Further, improvements and advantages of this invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art when the following description is read in view of the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment is set forth that should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention